Losing my patience with my Pole Beans....

[vfem]

They have been big and lovely vines climbing up over my daughter's play house. I have 4 vines total and we've had tiny beans on them for going on 4 weeks. They get barely the size of my pinky and them shrivel up and fall off. Now the vines have ants marching up and down them.

Whats going on!??!

I want green beans!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dickiebird]

My pole beans are not producing very good either. Most of a 20 ft. row have went over the top of my 6 ft. fence with only a dozen or so beans so far. Lots of blooms and none shriveling up, just no mature ones.
By contrast my bush beans are thriving with about a quart a day from half as many plants.

THANX RICH

 

[Whitewater]

At least you have beans, however temporarily. Count your blessings! My vines don't even have *flowers* yet, and the smallest, shortest vine is 4' tall!!!

At this rate I'll get beans just in time for the first snow . . .

*sigh*

I can't help. I don't even know what to do in order to make my vines start making with the beans.

But I agree it's frustrating!!!


Whitewater

 

[digitS']

You need to get with the program, Whitewater! My bush beans are flowering and I may have some to pick next week. The mistake this year was the same as last . . . weeding.

I plant them in double rows and never got to weeding between the rows. The idea is that they hold each other up and not so much space is wasted for running the rototiller between single rows. I could even make good use of mulch. But, I've got to get to them between seedling size and over-arching bean plant size :/. Now they are clinging to each other and doing a pretty good job suppressing the weeds by themselves.

My pole beans have just come up . . ! This is the 1st time that I've planted pole beans in July. I was assured by the guy that sent the seed to me about 5 years ago that this would work but I don't know . . . bush beans in July but pole beans!? . . . not sure.

You folks with a later frost date -- why don't you plant more seed?

Steve

 

[journey11]

I'm still waiting on my pole beans to start blooming. I don't know if I'm just being impatient, but it seems like they should have started by now. They look healthy otherwise.

 

[dickiebird]

?why don't you plant more seed?
Too HOT.
Actually too hot to even pick stuff!!!....but I do.

THANX RICH

 

[elf]

Mine haven't bloomed either. But my purplehull peas are blooming up a storm with some almost ready to pick. I think I would have lost a lot of stuff if I hadn't done an all day and night watering last week - hadn't realized how little rain we've had for the amount of scorching heat, until I went out one afternoon and saw all the weeping leaves. If you can do it, a heavy watering might help with the shriveling beans. If you're seeing ants, they could be sucking the juice from the roots, but then you'd also be seeing drying vines. I have pulled up green beans dying for no apparent reason, to find fireants all over the roots, although there were no really close hills. I suppose they could also be drinking juice from the beans themselves.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The last two years, my first canning of Blue Lake pole beans has been in the first week of August. It's still July. I've had enough off of them for a few meals but they certainly have not got going like they should and, I expect, will.

I remember being concerned about them last year until I looked at the date on my first canning of green beans from the previous year. My first canning last year was withing three calendar days.

I know we all have different climates and growing seasons so my specific dates don't mean anything to anyone else, but I will remain patient with mine.

 

[wsmoak]

My beans are taking *forever* to do anything as well. There are lots of flowers, but only a few beans out there, and half of those have been ruined by some bug making a hole in them.

I planted two more small beds of bush and pole beans from different seed sources to see if they'll do something. The first ones were from bulk seed, so who knows.

 

[wifezilla]

Mine are pathetic. Apparently every bug and critter and Colorado was just waiting for someone to plant pole beans so they could have a buffet.

I managed to keep a few blue lake plants alive and they just started to really take off. The lower leaves all look like hell, but the new growth seems to be outgrowing the bugs ability to eat them. I even saw a flow on one yesterday.

The beans I was most excited about were my chinese red noodle beans. I tried to start some in peat pots and they all got a bad case of dampening. Then I direct sowed some more. Only 2 vines lived. The bugs tried to kill those so I put DE all over the ground around them. They recovered. Then I caught my quail reaching through their pen netting and snacking on the leaves!



Now I have those protected, but like others, may be picking beans at the same time we get our first snow around halloween.

My best performing beans this year are my dragon tongue beans...same as last year. I will be saving some seeds and may even order another batch from Baker Creek to make sure I have enough seed for next Spring.